Imports and automated edits should only be carried out by those with experience and understanding of the way the OpenStreetMap community creates maps, and only with careful planning and consultation with the local community. See our guidelines for imports and our code of conduct of automated edits for more information. Imports/automated edits which do not follow these guidelines might be reverted!

Importing (also known as Bulk Importing) is the process of uploading external data to OSM.

Bulk imports are undertaken as a supplement to data collected by individual volunteers, and their data and ability to work in an area always has priority. Many free potential datasources have been updated into OSM in the past, like AND Data in the Netherlands, TIGER in the United States, Canvec in Canada, and MassGIS in the US state of Massachusetts.

Unlike editing the map or uploading GPX traces, importing combines an existing dataset with the OSM dataset, and thus typically includes a complex merging process.